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Topic: Better Methods for Building Cabinets (Read 6126 times)

We all build cabinets of one kind or another, for our shop, for the kitchen, a book case: basically all boxes. So a while back a FOG post mentioned Bob Lang’s book The Complete KITCHEN CABINETMaker (sorry, don’t recall the author). It sounded useful so I bought a copy. I quickly realized that this is a 221 page treasure trove of useful information - a 19 Chapter reference book for the shop showing not only what and how to do but also why.

We quickly realized that this would be helpful to all but the most seasoned Pro. So we comparison-shopped other texts to make sure our selection was on target. We discovered and bought a copy of Greg Paolini’s BUILDING KITCHEN CABINETS MADE SIMPLE.

After re-reading both books cover to cover, trying to decide which one would be best it became apparent that these books are complementary – the make a perfect set. For those not familiar with Greg Paolini, he teaches a regular series of official FESTOOL Auhorized training programs in addition to running his own full time cabinet shop near Asheville, North Carolina. His teaching experience shows through loud and clear in his 121-page book (organized into 9 Chapters) and the included step-by-step professional video. His course participants receive a copy of this book. That said, neither of these books teach how to use FESTOOL tools – they present universal principles of design, construction, finishing and installation. If you’re fortunate enough to have FESTTOOL in your shop it will just go that much faster.

You don’t need to reinvent cabinet making.Do you yourself a favor and flip through the digital online preview pages on our product page for each of these BOOKS.

Greg Paolini's book shows you "how to get it done" - movng right along.We originally thought to offer it only as a set but then realized that more than a few will already have one or the other book.

Would be great to hear comments from others who have one or both of these books.Any other suggestions for useful resource material, books, plans and YouTube are welcome so we can share in an accessible format.

Hans

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Home of the GRS-16 and GRS-16 PE Guide Rail Squares - the MTR-18 Triangle and Work Holding solutions

I've not bought books on cabinet making in awhile but I've read a bunch of the older ones. One gap was in-depth explanations of how to develop a 32mm system for the small shop with a limited equipment budget. Dave Lers's website, while a little hard to understand at first, delves into nuances of 32mm design on several finicky fine points. I haven't seen anything that addresses design principles using moldings and reveals to make frameless cabinets look more like high end face frame cabinets, which is something some customers want. Bob's a draftsman so his book might address the style. I haven't looked at it so I can't say.

@ lwoirhaye - we really appreciate the specifics of your feedback. We're adding your comments to our file of "unmet needs" from which we draw those with broader interest for new products or future "Resource" pages on our website accessible to anyone for free. That section will start with some fundamental topics applicable to a wide audience.

Just skimming through the previews, I see a lot of butt joints with pocket screws. That doesn’t seem ideal for a shop cabinet on casters.

The cheapest, fastest carcase joint I know is butt joints with glue and crown staples. Alignment can be an issue which can be resolved with rabbets, biscuits, etc. I made a right angle vacuum clamp I use with a vacuum pump sometimes for aligning case joints. Any joint which is held tight without fasteners is going to have you messing around with clamps. I made some small rolling shop cabinets with those Festool pullouts for Systainers recently and used dowels, which are great for alignment and don't show externally but they take more time and clamps are involved.

Cabinet shops that stay in business use what their customers will pay for, not what's elegant. If you line up a crown staple with the grain on a wood cabinet the staple hole can be filled and the cases can be banged out quick. A shop with the equipment budget and space for a case clamp and the other machines involved in production doweling can put them together pretty quick too.

Pocket screws are fine too but the joints can shift, the holes are ugly and filling them is a hassle. Appropriate joinery depends on a lot of factors, especially tolerances.

I don't think any of the books I've looked at cover these sorts of nuances. They usually emphasize relatively accessible methods for home shops like dados, screws and biscuits.

@Sparktrician - thanks for your list of references you have found useful. Ultimately no one book offeres everythign for everybody, But for building what are essentially plywood boxes, the two on our list will help many.

I look forward to hearing from others as well. Virtually all of the books out there take a general audience approach and do not get into more advanced methods like the DOMINO or even quality track saws- a reflection of the broader market vs the more advanced methods we work with.

keep the comments coming!Hans

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Home of the GRS-16 and GRS-16 PE Guide Rail Squares - the MTR-18 Triangle and Work Holding solutions

Just skimming through the previews, I see a lot of butt joints with pocket screws. That doesn’t seem ideal for a shop cabinet on casters.

@RustE - you'll find more in Bob Lang's book. Whether you use staples and glue, Pocket Screws or DOMINOs does not change the basic approach to cabinet design - you can choose your preference - really up to the individual woodworker.

Greg Paolini's approach shows you what works for stationary cabinets and his joining methods reflect functionality, speed and economy people are willing to pay for.

Hans

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TSOproducts.com

Home of the GRS-16 and GRS-16 PE Guide Rail Squares - the MTR-18 Triangle and Work Holding solutions

Just skimming through the previews, I see a lot of butt joints with pocket screws. That doesn’t seem ideal for a shop cabinet on casters.

The cheapest, fastest carcase joint I know is butt joints with glue and crown staples. Alignment can be an issue which can be resolved with rabbets, biscuits, etc. I made a right angle vacuum clamp I use with a vacuum pump sometimes for aligning case joints. Any joint which is held tight without fasteners is going to have you messing around with clamps. I made some small rolling shop cabinets with those Festool pullouts for Systainers recently and used dowels, which are great for alignment and don't show externally but they take more time and clamps are involved.

Cabinet shops that stay in business use what their customers will pay for, not what's elegant. If you line up a crown staple with the grain on a wood cabinet the staple hole can be filled and the cases can be banged out quick. A shop with the equipment budget and space for a case clamp and the other machines involved in production doweling can put them together pretty quick too.

Pocket screws are fine too but the joints can shift, the holes are ugly and filling them is a hassle. Appropriate joinery depends on a lot of factors, especially tolerances.

I don't think any of the books I've looked at cover these sorts of nuances. They usually emphasize relatively accessible methods for home shops like dados, screws and biscuits.

@Iwoirhaye - your points are well taken. It's easy to envision a shop cabinet with all sorts of elegant methods that will be finished when "you get around to it". On the other hand if you want to "git'r done" and still have a workmanlike endproduct that a customer will be willing to pay for, both of theses two books form a solid basis.

Building heavy duty shop carts obviously adds other demands which each woodworker can choose to fit the particular need.

Hans

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Home of the GRS-16 and GRS-16 PE Guide Rail Squares - the MTR-18 Triangle and Work Holding solutions

I'm a huge fan of Bob Lang's book. It paid for itself many times over while I was doing my kitchen last year. There was a lot of useful information about the actual construction, but at least for me the biggest thing to take away is that proper planning is essential.

I ended up writing a computer program that would generate my cutlist and draw some elevations of what I wanted. There's plenty of commercial software out there too; but being on a DIY budget (and my day job being software), I also DIYed this part of it. Being able to make tweaks in the design and end up with a proper cutlist was essential, because the design went through a few iterations as we were figuring out what we really wanted.

Pocket screws are fine too but the joints can shift, the holes are ugly and filling them is a hassle. Appropriate joinery depends on a lot of factors, especially tolerances.

For cabinet boxes this problem can pretty much be eliminated by simply putting the pocket holes on the outside of the boxes. The adjoining cabinet, top, countertop, or the fact that they are on the bottom hides them. For an end cabinet I would just add another flat panel to the outside.

From your original post (OP) you should see additional options on the right hand side likeClick on Modify, this will give you full editing capabilities. That way you can add more picture to any of your existing post. When adding multiple pictures to a single post, you have to make sure to move/re-position the cursor between each picture. Also under attachment you have (more attachment) you need to click there to add more pictures each time.

I have relied heavily on Marc Sommerfelds videos and products and built many cabinets from 30" to 96" and they are always strong. I am, however, going to take a page out of Tom's post and use screw on backs rather than rabbets and dados. Bill

I have relied heavily on Marc Sommerfelds videos and products and built many cabinets from 30" to 96" and they are always strong. I am, however, going to take a page out of Tom's post and use screw on backs rather than rabbets and dados. Bill

I do place the backs in a groove. I cut them about 1/32” shy of the width, then screw them in place. Having them in place allows me to move the cabinets without racking them. Once they’re ready for finish I pull the backs.

My preferred method of finish is pull the face frame, finish, reinstall, but with all of the panelized ends it’s not possible on most of these cabinets.

In the photo below you can see the dado for the back panel.

It use 1/2” back panels because most installers get carried away tightening the screws and don’t bother shiming behind the attachment point.

This set of uppers will be installed on French cleats, the uppers are 13” deep.

To echo @lwoirhaye, definitely what's missing from the cabinet book world is some of the "art" of cabinet building and installs. The tips and tricks that go beyond plywood boxes. For example, in a kitchen: vent hood covers, the little tricks to keep in mind for appliance cabinets, different methods for installing cabinet molding, glass doors, incorporating undercab lighting/wiring, island design, etc. And though the various YouTube videos are awesome, perhaps it's time for someone to write a tome on Festool and cabinetmaking.

To echo @lwoirhaye, definitely what's missing from the cabinet book world is some of the "art" of cabinet building and installs. The tips and tricks that go beyond plywood boxes. For example, in a kitchen: vent hood covers, the little tricks to keep in mind for appliance cabinets, different methods for installing cabinet molding, glass doors, incorporating undercab lighting/wiring, island design, etc. And though the various YouTube videos are awesome, perhaps it's time for someone to write a tome on Festool and cabinetmaking.